Breaking Point
by kallistob
Summary: Dracula's self-control over his bloodlust is not as good as we may think. COMPLETE. Thank you for 1000 views !
1. Chapter 1

He was power.

Young Dracula learned that at a very young age. His father never ceased to repeat it to him. He was power, he was darkness embodied, and others should fear him.

Especially humans. Humans, he was taught, were worth less than the dirt on his shoes. They were like ants, swarming the Earth, invading every corner, forcing honorable and powerful monsters like them to find more secluded places to retreat to, when _they_ should be the ones ruling it all.

They were also, Dracula found, surprisingly easy to kill.

When he was about 50 years of age, his father took him to a human village, and gave him a simple order. "Feed".

And if Dracula feared humans, he feared his father more, so he entered a house through the window, found a young girl laying in her bed and got his first taste of human blood.

It was the most delicious thing he ever had in his life.

After that, he hunted both humans and animals with his Dad.

He grew older, and stronger, and found that he didn't fear the older vampire as much as he used to. So one day, he flew away, and decided to go see the world for himself. During these years, he solely preyed on humans. He kept moving all around the world, and a legend started to follow him, the story of a man who invaded homes at night and killed young people. A man who could turn into a bat, into mist, who had red eyes, fangs and claws and looked like the Devil himself.

Dracula thought that last comparison was taking it a bit too far for his liking.

He slowly stopped contacting and communicating with his father all together.

He met other monsters. Frankestein, Wayne, Murray and Griffin would become his closest friends. They feared him, as they should, but they also made him laugh. They had fun together, and sometimes, in their presence, he felt like the child he was never allowed to be growing up, though he would never admit that out loud.

One day, while they were in Hawaii, he crashed into a bat, who turned out to be the most beautiful and interesting woman he had ever laid his eyes upon.

She made him discover the existence of blood substitutes. "Near Blood" and "Blood Beaters" worked fine to satiate his thirst, but the taste was a very pale imitation of the real thing.

Martha told him that she found humans interesting. That was the most intriguing thing for Dracula. One night she proposed that they disguise themselves and go to the nearest village, were people were apparently celebrating something. He tried to argue and lost, so they both put on some human-inspired clothes Martha had somehow sewn together and joined the festivities.

And for the first time, instead of seeing preys everywhere, Dracula saw people. He saw a mother holding her child and softly singing to her, a young boy pretending to fight with a wooden sword, an old man alone reading a book, and many other faces.

And he started to realize why Martha had given up entirely on human blood.

They didn't stay long in the village. The smell of all these humans made it difficult for Dracula to keep his instincts at bay, especially since he was so used to killing the creatures, and not _feel_ for them.

The Count became used to the taste of Blood Beaters. He and Martha settled in Castle Lubove, far away enough from humans to be safe, for both species. Martha became pregnant, and gave birth to the most perfect, adorable, baby girl vampire ever. She decided to name her Mavis, _little bird,_ and Dracula could only nod in approval. He had never been so happy in his life.

Up until _that_ night. The humans from the village nearby had found out what they were. They had come, driven by fear and hate, with lit torches and pitchforks screaming murder and revenge. Dracula could have easily crushed them all, but he knew Martha wouldn't want that, so he tried talking. He tried to calm them down, but they wouldn't hear any of it.

They killed Martha.

Dracula ran away with his daughter, and could only watch in despair as the symbol of the new life he had built with his love fell to shambles.

He hated them.

 _They_ were the real monsters, not him. Not his daughter, not his wife, not any of his friends.

In his arms, Mavis was sleeping, unable to comprehend anything that had happened around her.

Dracula looked at the child and promised himself that he would _always_ protect her. No matter what.

She was all he had left.

* * *

 **A/N :**

 **Hello there! I haven't written in three years, but this plot bunny was gnawing at me and I just _had_ to write it all down. This fic is 6 chapters long, everything is already typed down and edited so I will update regularly. Please do not hesitate to tell me what you think in the reviews, and point out any typos I may have missed, as English is not my first language. **

**I hope you will enjoy the story! See you soon for the next update!**


	2. Chapter 2

He built the Hotel as a safe haven. Not only for Mavis and him, but for all the other monsters around the world who had to hide unless they wanted to die.

For 115 years, everything was running smoothly.

And then he saw a human boy carrying a huge backpack standing in the entrance of his sanctuary.

" _Who are you? And how did you find this place?!"_

Jonathan, as it turned out, was downright annoying, frustrating, impossibly reckless, and a bit stupid. He had absolutely no problem whatsoever with staying in a place full of monsters.

Worst, he actually became friendly –a bit _too_ friendly- with Mavis.

This… walking disaster turned all the organization he had planned for his daughter's birthday upside down. Why everybody seemed to like him was above what Dracula could comprehend.

But beyond his anger, the vampire worried about something else.

It had been a _very_ long time since he had been in the presence of a human. And he couldn't deny that the smell was enticing.

He would just have to drink more blood substitutes than usual.

Until the redhead left. Which shouldn't take a long time.

Right?

Right.

" _I can't believe you stuck around, man!"_

Luck was decidedly not on his side.

Despite all of his efforts to get rid of him, Jonathan remained in the Hotel, and the longer he dwelled, the harder it was for him to ignore his bloodlust. He consumed Blood Beaters at an alarming rate, but if someone noticed, they didn't say anything.

The birthday party was a disaster.

Everyone found out he had lied about the village. On top of that, Johnny was revealed as being a human. Pure chaos ensued. Every monster was running, screaming, and fearing for their lives. He watched, desperate, as Mavis hugged Jonathan, despite what he was, and as Jonathan looked at him before rejecting Mavis. He could do nothing as Mavis yelled that everything was his fault and flew away. He stayed there, staring at where his daughter had been while every monster left the room, prepared to flee the hotel.

–***–

They had _zinged_. And he had stood in the way.

But he could fix it. He wasn't a Dracula for nothing.

Flying in the sun as a bat trying to pursue a plane was easily one of the worst pain he had ever experienced in his lifetime. His back and wings were literally on fire, every movement excruciating, but he had to endure it. For Mavis. So he forced himself to focus solely on his goal and kept going by force of sheer will.

In agony, he managed to deliver his message to Johnny and felt the plane turn back.

As it was going down, he told the human to buy Mavis a backpack, the first one he could find, and then meet him in the forest. He finally released his hypnosis on the pilot and let go, falling down to the ground, starting to fly again at the last moment to reach the nearby shadows of the forest, where he promptly collapsed.

"… Cula… Dracula!"

He was hearing a voice.

"Dracula, are you alright?"

He opened his eyes, gasping for the air he didn't need. Jonathan was in front of him, looking terribly worried.

"I…I'm fine," he replied, voice raspy. "Did you buy the backpack?"

"Uh, yeah. I got it! Look! It has everything she needs!"

 _Thump-thump._

"It wasn't expensive at all, like 40 bucks! I hope it will suit her…"

 _Thump-thump._

"The color is a bit terrible, I'll give you that, but you did say to buy the first one I found."

 _THUMP-THUMP._

"Drac?"

The vampire snapped out of his trance. The boy was so close, it would be so easy to just reach him and _bite_ … - No! NO!

Dracula shook his head and stood up.

"Come", he snapped.

He turned into a bat again, grabbed Johnathan by the collar, and, ignoring the pain, settled to flying back to the hotel.

–***–

The Count stayed locked in his room for two days after that.

His body, badly burned, was demanding human blood, _real_ human blood, to regenerate faster, better, stronger, but he couldn't give in- it was unthinkable. Not trusting himself to go outside, he left Mavis in charge of the hotel, simply telling her he needed time to recover.

He drank Blood Beater after Blood Beater, and slowly but surely the burns healed, until he felt like his old self again.

* * *

 **There we go! Thank you so much for the positive responses to this, it has greatly motivated me to actually continue updating the story! Just like last time, do tell me what you think in the reviews, and do not hesitate to point out a typo or maybe if you think a sentence doesn't make sense, as English isn't my first language !**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3

One week later, Mavis asked her father if they could organize a sort of repeat of her birthday party, to rectify the emotional wounds caused by the last one. They went for something simpler this time. Dracula set all the tables in the right places, along with chairs. All the guests would be sitting around them, while the gargoyles served the most terrific dishes the new chef had lovingly prepared.

Quasimodo had been fired and banned, and nobody knew what had happened to his mouse, Esmeralda. Nor did anybody care.

The Count was at a table, Mavis on his right and Griffin on his left, Jonathan opposite him. With them were also Murray, Wayne, Frank and Eunice.

The vampire cleared his throat loudly and stood up, drawing the attention to him.

"Dear monsters and friends of all kinds, it is my pleasure to have you here tonight for this dinner party, which was my baby girl's idea!"

"Dad!"

"… Which was my grown girl's idea! I wish you all a pleasant evening, and hope you will enjoy the dishes!"

Cheers greeted his declaration, and the monsters happily tucked in. Soon enough, the room was filled with loud chatter and laughs.

At Dracula's table, Jonathan was trying to explain pizza to the other monsters.

"It's super delicious! You can put plenty of good stuff in it, like meat, cheese, tomatoes- "

"To-what?" interrupted Mavis, curious.

"Round and red vegetables. Fruits. Whatever. They're really sweet! Hey Drac! Maybe you could order pizza at the hotel, I'm sure the guests would love it!"

"What?! I will not let you poison monsterkind, Human!" Dracula replied in outrage, making the whole table crack up.

"Anyway, where's my food at?" asked Jonathan once everybody had calmed down. The dinner had started 20 minutes ago, and everyone had gotten their dishes except him. Just as he said it, a gargoyle came up at the table, put a plate in front of him and went back to the kitchens.

Once uncovered, his dinner revealed itself to be a cooked fish along with some vegetables that resembled carrots in every way, except for the fact that they were blue. Jonathan, trusting that no one would try to poison him, shrugged and began eating. He got as far as two mouthfuls before the supposedly dead animal in his plate started moving.

"What the… AAAAAAAARGH!"

He let out an unholy yelp. The fish had literally jumped out of the plate and, by the looks of it, was now biting down hard on Johnathan's forearm. Mavis cried out and immediately grabbed the 'food' by its tail, sending it flying across the room, where a goblin grabbed it in midair and ate it.

"Holy rabies, Johnny, are you all right?!"

"I think so", he grimaced, looking down at his arm. The bite had been deep enough to draw blood, and he could see the shape of each of the fish's sharp teeth. "But this hurts like a bitch."

"Watch your language!" said Eunice. "I'll get the doctor. Frank, try to find the kid some clean clothes so he can stop the blood flow with it." She was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Johnny, you should sit," suggested Mavis anxiously.

"Yeah…"

"Where am I supposed to find a clean piece of cloth nearby?" panicked Frank. "How is that even going to help?!"

"Just ask Dad!"

"Oh, right!" Frank turned around. "Hey Drac, d'you know where I could…"

He lost his voice even as he spoke when he saw the vampire's face.

* * *

 **–***–**

 **Dun dun dun! Oh my, Chapter Three already. This one's short, I admit it, but the next ones will be longer... And we will get into the good stuff. Well, good according to me, at any rate.**

 **Please do not hesitate to leave a comment, you'll make my day!**


	4. Chapter 4

There was _that_ smell again. The vampire inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, gripping the edge of the table to refrain himself from attacking the human. He was so _close_. So unsuspecting. Nobody had even noticed the way the way _he_ reacted yet. It would be child's play to just rise, grab the boy by the throat and sink his teeth into soft skin. The blood would come spilling out of the wound, so sweet, so _addictive_ , and he would swallow every drop of it until the only thing remaining in his arms was a limp body!

Dracula didn't even notice he was moving.

His mind was so clouded by hunger and sheer need that when he encountered resistance, he didn't think of using magic to push whoever was preventing him from reaching his prey away. Instead, he growled menacingly, and started clawing at the monsters' skin. In a daze, he vaguely recognized two of his friends. They were speaking, but he didn't pay attention, his entire being focused on the _scent._

Jonathan was scared out of his mind. He could only stare in shock as Wayne and Frank tried to hold back the Count, who suddenly resembled more than ever the Dracula from the legends. His claws were sharp and apparent, his fangs elongated, and his glowing red eyes were focused on _him_.

His fear increased tenfold when he saw Mavis, who so far had been standing still, in the same state as him, suddenly take a step toward her father.

" _Ma-_ "

"Shush!" Murray silenced him, serious for once. "Hearing your voice will only make him want you more. Don't move either. I don't know how much longer Frank and Wayne can hold him back before he remembers that magic exists, and when he does…"

"When he does, none of us will be able to stop him," whispered a voice on his right, belonging to the Invisible Man.

Jonathan swallowed, throat constricted. His arm was still bleeding, but they couldn't do anything except wait and pray that the young woman knew what she was doing.

Mavis was scared. Dracula barely looked like her loving father, but she had to try and stop him.

She took a deep breath, turned into a bat and landed upon the Count's shoulder, gripping him tightly to keep from falling as the vampire was still thrashing about. Then she yelled right in his ear, knowing how painful that would be for his acute hearing.

"DAD! STOP! YOU'RE SCARING ME! YOU'RE SCARING ALL OF US!"

Perhaps it was the pain, perhaps it was the words, but Dracula stilled. Encouraged, Mavis kept talking, gentler this time.

"Dad? It's me, it's Mavis. Please come back to me. Dad, you're hurting Wayne, let him go!"

The vampire retreated his claws from Wayne's fur. His fingers were bloody, and the werewolf whimpered at the deep gashes left in his skin.

Mavis' words seemed to be reaching him. Jonathan saw the Count's eyes slowly returning back to their normal blue color, though his fangs and claws remained the same.

"Ma… Mavis? What… "

Sighing in relief, the bat turned back into a woman.

The fog in Dracula's mind was starting to dissipate, leaving him very confused. He looked at his daughter then at the other monsters around him. Their faces all seemed to be stuck on various levels of shock and fear.

He had been that close to killing a human, and setting monsters back centuries. _And the worst thing is_ , he thought as he looked at Jonathan, _that I still want to do it_.

He fled.

–***–

He was flying. Flying, flying, going faster and faster with every movement. He needed to get as far away from the Hotel as possible.

He had to _hunt._

Landing into a forest, he immediately caught the scent of a rabbit. The poor creature didn't have any chance to flee before its throat was being ripped out, Dracula quickly draining the animal before letting it fall to the ground.

 _Not enough._

He saw a wild boar and killed it in a flash of teeth and superhuman strength. Further away, he smelt a pack of deer and chased one until he had the beast in a choke hold, slicing its throat with one finger. He drank and drank, felt the animal go still.

 _Not enough!_

They were too slow! Too easy to kill! He wanted to _fight_. He needed to rip and tear and feel strength coming from his opponent, he needed-

A bear.

 _Perfect._

He followed the scent back to its source. Sneaking up on the animal, Dracula attacked from behind, sinking his fangs into the bear's neck. A loud roar echoed his move, and the young male managed to shake him off of his back, making the vampire fall to the ground. Turning, the beast slapped Dracula hard, sending him crashing into a tree.

 _Oh, yes._

He grinned widely. That was exactly what he had been looking for.

–***–

When the fight ends, his clothes are stained with dirt, torn apart where the bear clawed him. His hair is a mess, his chin and hands are dripping with blood. He doesn't care.

He is finally calm.

He doesn't feel like returning at the Hotel just yet, and the sun is rising, so he looks for an empty cave to spend the day in.

Finding one, he curls up and tries to sleep. His dreams are filled with nightmarish visions of him killing Johnny, of him being killed, of his friends going mad, of the Hotel falling into shambles, just like when his wife died.

He wakes up feeling like he hasn't slept at all.

–***–

Back at the Hotel, monsters were freaking out, most of them not believing what they had just witnessed. Everyone was speaking at once, demanding to know what was going on until a roar silenced them.

Mavis was floating above the crowd, her cape flowing behind her. In the absence of her father, the young vampire was in charge of the hotel, which meant reassure the guests as much as she could, and look calm despite the growing panic and worry she felt.

"EVERYBODY PLEASE CALM DOWN! I want all of you to finish your dinner and go back to your rooms or activities. YOU are not in any danger here. As for Johnny…" she began, looking at her Zing, "…I want the doctor and witches to look at him. His arm needs to be healed, very fast. I will also have a word with the new chef about that _fish_."

That last sentence was pronounced in a very angry tone, and the monsters shivered. None of them ever wanted to have to face to wrath of a furious vampire, and a Dracula at that.

–***–

The following night found Mavis, Johnny –his arm all bandaged up and healing quite quickly thanks to the witches' magic- as well as Frank, Wayne, Griffin and Murray all waiting in Mavis' bedroom for Dracula's return. The atmosphere was heavy, and not even Murray could find a joke to crack to lighten it up a bit. They didn't even know if Dracula would come back at all. Mavis had been checking the window every two minutes for the past hour, hoping for the best.

"He's back," she suddenly whispered, making everyone jump in surprise. Opening the window, she let the black bat come in.

It resumed the shape of Count Dracula as they all knew it.

The vampire looked at the faces in front of him. He noticed the way Mavis' body was slightly angled towards Jonathan, as if ready to jump in front of him and act as a shield if needed. He sighed.

"I believe I owe all of you some explanations."

They nodded at once. He leaned against the wall behind him and started speaking, struggling to find the right words.

"As you all saw, I… I almost attacked Jonathan last night. I would have, if it wasn't for Wayne and Frank holding me back. There is no denying that," he admitted quietly. Silence followed that declaration before Johnny spoke.

"… Why didn't Mavis want to attack me?"

"Because my Mavis was raised on blood substitutes all her life," stated Dracula, raising his head to look at the human. "They work just fine to satiate our thirst, but… The taste of human blood is something else entirely. It's _addictive_. Getting used to Blood Beaters took me months, and if it wasn't for your mother, Mavis, I would never have done it."

"But there is a simple solution to this problem."

They all piped up at that.

"Jonathan, you and Mavis should go on your world tour as soon as you can," and oh, was it painful for him to say that. "I have become a danger to him, but hurry away and I will have the time needed to get myself back together. I…I have tasted human blood. I have _enjoyed_ it. I cannot promise that I won't lose control again, but the last thing I want is to kill my daughter's Zing and destroy the happiness you and Johnny have found with each other. I could not live with myself if I did that. Which is why you need to leave," he finished, looking sadly at his daughter.

Mavis felt defeated. That was another thing he had never told her about, to protect her, but she couldn't find it within herself to be angry at him this time. Mostly, she felt worried and sad, because she could see he had been suffering a lot silently. Jonathan seemed to be following her train of thoughts. For once, he wasn't smiling. He just nodded at Dracula, took Mavis' hand and they both exited the room. The Count didn't stop them.

"All of you," Dracula looked at the four monsters that remained, "I want you to do everything you can to prevent something like that from happening again. If I do lose it, you are allowed to set me on fire if that's what it takes for me to be stopped!"

They all agreed. Though deep inside, they wondered if it was really possible to stop a vampire as powerful as Dracula once he was set on a target.

–***–

"Okay," began Jonathan. He and Mavis were inside his bedroom. "Since we're going to Hawaii first, you will need to have some very protective clothes. And a hat. Sunglasses. Do you have sunglasses?"

Mavis nodded negatively.

"Okay, so we will need to buy you that… Tell you what, tomorrow during the day I'll go to the nearby village and buy you sunglasses as well as a new hat and some very strong sun cream… That's a thing humans put on their skin to protect them from the sun rays. I don't know if it'll work on you but we'll give it a try… I will also go to the airport and book our flight! So we should be gone … tomorrow evening?"

"Johnny," interrupted his girlfriend. "Are you… are you okay?"

"Ah," Jonathan let out a shaky laugh. "Let me think… I know that somewhere in this Hotel, the legendary Dracula is out there to get my blood, which is… messed up. And scary as hell. Also my arm still hurts. But …" he put his hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "At the same time, I do get to go travel with the most perfect girl ever, much sooner than expected?"

Mavis blushed at that. Johnny took her hands in his.

"It will be okay, Mavy. Tomorrow night we'll be gone, or worst, the day after that, but anyway it will be soon and your dad seemed to be okay. I trust he'll do his best to avoid me until we've left, and I'm pretty sure he probably asked his friends to stop him if anything should happen. And I have you! You managed to stop him last time!"

"Yeah, but …"

"So we will enjoy our last moments here as much as we can and… Try to 'roll' with it, because afterwards, we're going to Paradise!" he grinned.

She smiled, reassured for now, and hugged him. They stayed that way for a long moment, just enjoying the other's presence, before they parted. Jonathan kissed her lightly on the lips and whispered, "We will be okay."

They both really wanted to believe in that sentence.

* * *

 **...Yeah, I want to believe in that sentence as well.**

 **There you go for chapter 4! I struggled with this one, so do not hesitate to comment. I wanted to post it yesterday but life got in the way.**

 **Tomorrow college starts again for me, which means I probably won't be able to update until... Next Friday *grimaces* but I'll do my best. I hope you enjoy the story so far!**

 **Oh, and at the beginning of the chapter, Jonathan cannot move because if he flees, Dracula would immediately pursue him. Kind of like when you run in front of a dog, they can't help but chase you. So he is forbidden to move as it would just make things worse.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to those who have favorited and followed this story, it really means a lot!**

 **On to Chapter 5!**

* * *

True to his words, Jonathan got up the next morning to buy all the necessary things Mavis was missing. However, when he arrived at the airport, he learned that this evening's flight departure was canceled due to bad weather. Grumbling, he had no other choice than to take the one leaving the next day.

That meant they would be staying at the Hotel for one more night.

Johnny took the rest of the morning to walk around the Hotel for the last time. It was quiet, since most monsters slept during the day. The very few that were awake, he said goodbye to, even though he didn't really know them. It just seemed polite.

He ended up going to bed at noon, waking up around 8 pm. Hearing a ruckus outside his door, he quickly dressed up and got out, only to find monsters happily running in the corridor, all in the same direction.

"Uh guys, what's going on?"

"Dracula has organized a last minute party so that all of us can say goodbye to you and Mavis, sweetheart," replied Wanda, who was passing his door at that very moment. "After all, we don't know when you'll be back, and he wanted you to have a good memory of this place, after… What happened last time. Most monsters didn't even know you were leaving until his announcement."

"Oh. That's… Pretty cool!" he said, his face lighting up. Closing his bedroom door, he followed the monsters to the now familiar ballroom. The skeletons in charge of welcoming people in the Hotel's entrance occupied the stage, playing some lively tune. A very small buffet was also there. Johnny spotted Mavis sitting in a chair, chatting happily with a gremlin lady.

No one noticed the bat hanging from the ceiling.

Dracula looked at his daughter with fond eyes. The gathering had really been a last moment thing, but he hoped it would make his guests relax a bit. He saw Jonathan arrive, and felt the bloodlust, ever present but easily ignorable due to the amount of Blood Beaters he had forced himself to swallow. He fully intended to spend the evening watching things from above, intervening only if something went _really_ wrong.

Johnny and Mavis went from monster to monster, talking, dancing and saying their goodbyes, both enjoying the night as much as they could. Murray, Frank, Wayne and Griffin were keeping an eye on the human, but as time passed they started to relax as well. The mummy spotted a female of his kind and went to hit on her, Frank wanted to get some food, Wayne set out to stop one of his pups from chewing on the bones of the female skeleton and Griffin decided to dance because damn it, he had some sick dance moves, even if nobody could see them.

All was well.

–***–

"Sir! Sir Jonathan!" yelled a voice. One of the armors in charge of guarding the castle was running towards him. The redhead looked at Mavis questioningly, but she shrugged and continued eating her bagel with scream cheese.

"Sir, is it true you are leaving this place?" the guard inquired.

"Uuh, yeah. But we will come back! We're just going to see the world for a while. "

"That does sound "cool", as you would say. However, I thought you would be staying longer, Sir, but since you are not, I am going to ask this now."

The suit of armor pointed its spear towards Jonathan.

"I challenge you to a duel!"

Mavis choked on her food.

"W-what?" Johnny stammered.

"Aye, lad, do not be scared! I just thought it would be funny to challenge a human! It's not like your kind comes here often. I've been wanting to duel you ever since you stumbled upon this place!"

"He cannot fight you!" argued Mavis. "He's just flesh and you're metal! And what would he fight with? These spears are way too dangerous!"

"I have planned everything!" The armor waved its arm and suddenly two other guards joined him. One was holding thread as well as two small cushions, and the other seemed to be carrying pieces of metal with difficulty. He was also holding a spear. "You see? I have protection for the spears so that they cannot hurt him, and I found an unoccupied armor Sir Jonathan can put on to protect himself."

"I'm still not sure…"

"It will be fun!"

And who was Jonathan to say no to a bit of fun?

–***–

Dracula, lost in thoughts, didn't notice anything was amiss until he heard spears clashing together.

"What is the meaning of THIS?!"

"Oh, hi Dad," greeted Mavis, not showing any surprise at his sudden appearance. She must have seen him earlier on the ceiling. "Well, the armor has challenged Johnny to a duel because it's his last night here."

The Count opened and closed his mouth, bewildered, but no sound came out. He had a very _bad_ feeling about this.

 _I should go to my room._

At this point, the monsters had formed a circle around the two opponents, cheering them on.

Dracula didn't move.

Jonathan soon realized that having for adversary an empty armor may not have been one of his brightest ideas. While the suit moved quickly and accurately, he was sweating buckets inside his armor. The helmet kept falling on his face, obscuring his view, and his spear was way too heavy. He had never been a very strong guy to begin with, but this was pushing it. Every muscle in his body was soon protesting the violent efforts, and while he did manage to block a few of the armor's attacks, he wasn't even remotely close to striking back, much less winning. Finally, the guard took pity on him, and delivered one blow to his chest. It didn't hurt him, as the end of the spear was cushioned, but the force was enough to make him stumble and fall, landing on his back on the floor.

The crowd exploded with laughter, pointing at Johnny. The redhead tried to stand, but the weight of the metal was just too much, so he stayed there until he felt hands help him up.

"It seems I have won, Sir Jonathan. Good fight."

"Oh, please," the young man huffed. "That was a disaster. I demand a revenge! But on my terms this time, meaning I am _not_ wearing that stuff, it makes me suffocate."

As he said so, he took off the helmet as well as the rest of the armor covering his arms, chest, and legs. A witch cast a spell on his spear, making it weight no more than a stick, and thus round two began.

Jonathan felt much more at ease than before. This time, instead of enduring, he could actually move around, jump, run, dodge and attack back. Both opponents were now trying to think of a way to bring the other down.

No one noticed how the thread holding the cushion on the armor's spear was slowly fraying before it snapped.

Jonathan put all his weight into his strike. The two spears clashed, the sound echoing in the room, and a cushion was sent flying into the air. Taking advantage of the guard's confusion, the human let go of his weapon and ran, intent on attacking the guard judoka style to throw him off balance. Taken by surprise, his rival did the only thing he had in mind: raising its spear as protection, he leveled it with the boy's side and struck.

But instead of feeling the cushion's resistance, he felt the end of the weapon tenderly entering flesh. Instead of hearing laughs, he heard cries. Horrified, he immediately removed the spear and looked at it in shock, stupidly wondering why its protection had disappeared.

Jonathan fell on the floor, curling up into a fetal position, gasping. A small pool of blood was forming under him. Mavis screamed and ran to him, begging a nurse to come. Monsters started to panic, wondering what to do, since none of them were familiar with humans and how they reacted to injuries. In the forming turmoil, one voice could be heard above all.

"Where is Dracula?" Frank was roaring. "WHERE DID HE GO?!"

–***–

As soon as he smelt the blood, Dracula fled the scene. His instincts were rising again, stronger than ever since a hundred years, and he could only try to run away as every cell in his body screamed at him to go back and finally _KILL_.

He didn't go far. Wobbling in an empty corridor, he began to sweat and feel his fangs and claws grow longer and sharper, while he was fighting an internal battle he knew he had already lost.

 _ **KILL HIM!**_

 _I can't! He's Mavis' Zing! She would hate me!_

 _ **HE'S A HUMAN. HE IS PREY. KILL HIM!**_

 _I…_

 _ **KILL HIM!**_

 _Kill…_

He threw up.

His body was rejecting every drop of Blood Beater he had drank. Trembling and coughing, the Count wiped his mouth off –fake, so disgustingly _fake_ \- blood.

 _He was in control._

He stood up straight again. Quickly running to his chambers, he washed his face, changed his clothes and tried to make himself look presentable. The whole thing lasted no longer than five minutes. Taking deep breaths, he willed himself to go back to his normal appearance, and slowly his fangs and claws returned to their normal size. When he was sure that his eyes didn't glow red anymore, he flew back to the ballroom.

Inside, the screaming had subsided. He could hear the armor apologize profusely, and the human give a shaky laugh. The scent of blood hit him so strongly he had to stop and focus himself again. He entered the room a few minutes later.

If he wanted to get to Jonathan, he had to play this right.

Silence fell, as monsters turned their heads towards him and slowly parted, letting him pass. He stopped when Frank stood in front of him, and noticed the werewolf, the invisible man and the mummy all surrounding the man.

 _As if that will help him._

"Let me pass," he ordered flatly. "I can heal him completely."

"Drac, are you feeling alright?" asked Frank. His friend's eyes weren't red, and he seemed calm, if a bit cold in his demeanor.

"I am fine," the vampire sighed. "I had Blood Beaters. _This_... just took me by surprise, which is why I had to leave so quickly. Now let me through."

Frank looked behind him, unsure. Mavis hesitated, but finally nodded her agreement. Her Dad seemed fine, why would he lie? Moreover, he knew how much she cared about Johnny, so he wouldn't hurt him.

Dracula moved closer, all the while breathing through his mouth to stay calm. The scent of blood was so intoxicating that it nearly made his head spin. But he couldn't lose control.

 _Not yet._

He knelt beside Johnny. The human was pressing what looked like a scrap of tissue over his stomach.

"Take that off. I have to see the wound in order to heal it completely," he informed Jonathan, trying to make his voice as gentle as possible. He had no idea if he was succeeding. He could hear Johnny's heart thumping loudly, as if sensing the danger, and it was torture. Sweet, _delightful_ torture.

The human removed the piece of cloth. The injury was deep and swollen, but it had miraculously stopped bleeding, probably the work of a healing spell. Concentrating, the vampire waved his hand. Jonathan looked in amazement as the skin mended itself back together and the wound closed, leaving only a faint pink scar behind.

"Holy shit, Drac! That was so cool! Thank you!" he exclaimed, raising his head to look at the Count.

His heart skipped a beat.

He noticed two things at once: one, everything around him was way too quiet. The monsters were all still, their faces and bodies frozen in different positions, not even blinking.

 _Oh hell no._

He scrambled to get away quickly, terror filling his heart as he looked at Dracula. The vampire was standing up slowly, and Jonathan could see his fingernails growing longer.

 _Fucking fucking shit-_

He bolted towards the door, screeching when the Count suddenly appeared in front of him. He turned around and ran again, only to feel a hand grab him by his hair and yank him hard, sending him to the floor.

"No, STOP!"

He tried to get up but Dracula was upon him in an instant, holding him down with a vice-like grip. Jonathan could do nothing to shake him off. Desperate, he tried to kick, scratch and bite, but that only earned him a chuckle. Tears formed in his eyes as he felt the vampire's breath on his neck.

He screamed.

* * *

 **–***–**

 **... Jonathan has had better days.**

 **Wanna see the next chapter? Leave a review! See you soon folks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**As I combined some of the previous chapters to give you guys more to read, this has become the final part.** **Thank you to everyone who reviewed/followed, it has greatly encouraged me and you made me very happy :)**

* * *

 _Delicious_ , thought Dracula, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of fresh, warm, _human_ blood.

 _Oh, I have missed this._

The boy was squirming in his grasp, but every move made the bite more painful for him as his neck was destroyed further and further.

 _I have to make it last._

He swallowed once more before stopping. A wave of magic, and the wound on Jonathan's neck was healed. He rose, leaving the human on the floor, and walked away.

–***–

The pain had stopped.

Jonathan could hardly believe it. Trembling, he sat up gradually, holding his neck, trying to figure out how much blood he had lost. He felt dizzy and tired, but at least he could stand. Dracula was a few meters away, watching him intently.

Johnny was incapable of figuring out if he had the predator or the Hotel manager in front of him.

"D-Dracula?" he called out weakly.

But he was gone. Abruptly, there was a hand around his throat and he felt himself being lifted in the air. Struggling to breathe, he stared into red eyes that held no remorse but absolute _hunger._

"Hello, Johnny boy", the Count whispered, his voice deep. "You and I are going to play a game! The rules are very simple: you are going to run while I count five minutes. Past that time, I will come after you and try to catch you! What do you think? Sounds fun, right?"

 _I am in such deep shit._

The Count released him and grinned.

"Run!"

–***–

And run he did. A shadow of a plan started to form in his mind. If only he could reach his bedroom on time, maybe he had a chance to survive this, he thought, frantic. Very quickly, however, the physical effects of the attack combined with the injury he had suffered were making themselves known. His breath was short, his legs felt heavy and his heartbeat was going twice as fast as normal, but he willed himself to keep going.

–***–

Time was up.

Due to his acute hearing, Dracula knew exactly where Jonathan had decided to flee. A minute later, he was in front of the boy's bedroom door. It was unlocked, so he walked right in. The human was nowhere in sight.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" the Count murmured.

He heard a cry behind him and quickly turned around, catching the human's hand with one of his own.

"Nice try."

But the boy was carrying a knife in his other hand, and rapidly plunged it in the Count's stomach, who grunted in pain. The small weapon was burning him, and he quickly deduced that it was made of silver. It was a smart, if a bit pitiful, attempt at defending himself on the human's part. The infamous Count Dracula was going to need so much more than _that_ to be stopped. He scratched Jonathan's hand, making him yelp. The young man let go of the knife, and Dracula promptly yanked the tool out. The wound was hissing, but started to heal almost instantly.

Helpless, Jonathan could only watch as his last chance to survive the night was thrown away.

Seizing him by the collar, the vampire sent him flying across the room. His head hit the wall, hard, and he saw stars. Before he even had a chance to recover, clawed hands grabbed him and he found himself being pinned against the wall. Dracula was so close that it was physically impossible to struggle, their bodies literally glued together. He was having trouble breathing. Jonathan could feel the Count pulling at his shirt to expose his neck, and didn't even realize he was crying until he tried to speak.

"…ac, please s-s-stop," he sobbed. "P-please, it's me, J-Jonathan- Ma-…"

He choked as he felt the teeth enter his neck again.

Sweet blood flowed into his mouth, staining the human's shirt.

 _Even better than last time_.

Dracula let out a low growl of pure, unadulterated bliss. He sucked harder, clawing at the human's clothes without even realizing it, leaving gashes everywhere in his wake. The human's efforts to push him away were becoming weaker and weaker every second.

He had to stop. Let the game last a little longer.

He tore himself away from the human's neck, breathing heavily. Thrills of pleasure were running through him. He felt like he was being resuscitated, living again after years of being numb, and it was _perfect._

He healed the wound and looked at the human crawling on the floor.

"Run."

–***–

His strength was leaving him. Leaning against the wall, he had managed to stand up, little by little. His head was spinning, his throat was on fire, and his eyes were dry from all the crying. He was sweating and panting, felt weak, exhausted.

But he kept going, driven solely by survival instincts that were telling him to _get as far away from_ _ **him**_ _as possible._ He knew he was slow, way too slow, and expected to be attacked again any minute. Yet nothing came.

He found himself in front of the ballroom's entrance without recalling how he got here. It didn't matter. He walked into the room, barely noticing the horrified stares he received from the frozen monsters who could see him. His mind was focused on one thing only, which was giving him the energy to keep moving even though he felt like fainting with each step.

 _Mavis._

He had to see Mavis. Then everything would be okay, just like they promised.

He finally found her, in the exact same position as when he had left, and knelt in front of the young woman.

He forced himself to focus on her face. Her perfect pale skin. Her freckles. Her black lips. Her gorgeous blue eyes, which were now filled with pain and horror. A single tear ran down her cheek. Leaning, Jonathan kissed her, trying to convey all the love and regret he felt in that one gesture.

"I love you, Mavis," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

There was nothing more he could say.

Lying down on the floor next to her, he took her hand in his, and waited. When he saw a pair of black shoes next to his head, he didn't even try to flee.

"The game is over. But I suppose you had figured that out already."

Jonathan stayed silent, staring at the vampire who had calmly been stealing his life away.

He only let out a small whimper when he felt the now terribly familiar teeth bite into his neck again.

–*–

He drank.

He drank until he felt the human stop struggling.

He drank until he felt the last breath leave the body, drank until he heard the last beating of the heart.

He drank it all, until the last drop of blood, until the body in his arms went limp and cold.

Then he laid the body down on the floor, turned into a bat and flew.

He flew and flew, reached the roof of the hotel, and turned back into a man.

Waving his hand, he freed all the paralyzed monsters.

––

The piercing cry of his daughter could have been heard by God himself.

* * *

 **–***–**

 **That's it!**

 **I really intended this to be just a one-shot, constructed around the "Drac loses his self-control entirely because blood" idea. I wrote this literally as stress-relief. I may write a sequel though.**

 **But I have had another idea for a HT story that has literally been making a damn ruckus in my mind for the past two weeks. I am super excited about it, and can't wait to share it with you. I still need to figure out stuff, and write it down, but do keep an eye out for that !**

 **Sorry for those who thought Johnny was going to get out of this alive. I love his character, but he was doomed since the beginning in this fic. Eh.**

 **If you loved the story, let me know in the reviews! Thank you to those who read, and see you soon!**


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